For Keeps
by toffeelola
Summary: What if John and Harold had to keep Leila? Set after Baby Blue (spoilers for that episode) NO SLASH! R&R. Rated for violence!
1. Chapter 1

_John held the child against his chest, trying to keep the six month old warm. Elias could not care less if the baby died, she meant nothing to him. John was her protector, she couldn't die. He wasn't going to let her. His hands were bruised and torn from his struggle with the handcuffs but eventually he had broken free from the pipe and was able to go and hold the baby. He couldn't provide skin to skin contact, which was recommended for cold conditions due to the hand cuffs and suit but he did his best before he knew if he went any longer the child would soon die._

"_Elias", He said firmly, "You win."_

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It was two days now after that terrible incident. John's hands were still bruised and Leila had developed a cold. The grandparents had decided against taking her and suggested that she remain in the care of John and Harold. The two men hesitantly accepted.

"Mr Reese I hope you don't plan on bringing Bear over here", Finch said over the phone to John, "We don't want Leila becoming his new chew toy."

"Relax Finch, he wouldn't hurt a flea", John said as he put the dog on the leash and walked out of his spacious apartment.

"Perhaps not but he would kill an armed man if asked to", Finch said, "Oh and we have a new number."

"Who is it?" John asked as he got into his car and started heading towards where Finch stayed in the old worn down library.

"Sarah Abbey", Finch replied, "A sixteen year old girl, I've had a look on her social networking pages, she has over a thousand friends on all of them, nothing peculiar came up, she has a boyfriend and attends the local school, I'm sending you the address. Her mother was killed due to domestic violence and her father currently resides in jail, she's living with her aunty at the moment."

"So who would want to hurt her then?" Reese asked as he trained his camera onto Sarah.

"Or who would she want to hurt?" Harold suggested, Leila started crying in her crib and Harold went to go see how she was doing, "It appears that Leila's cold might finally be passing."

"Then why is she crying?" John asked.

"I thought by now you would have learnt that babies cry for many reasons Mr Reese", Finch replied, "Have you got any extra info on Sarah?"

"Who is her boyfriend", John asked as he noticed Sarah walk towards an African American man.

"Nicky Jo, he is a seventeen year old African American, attends the same school as Sarah", Harold answered.

"You sure he's seventeen?" John queried thinking the man looked more like twenty.

"That's what his file says", Finch answered.

"He looks more like he's twenty, can you find anything else on Sarah?" John asked.

"I think maybe you should pay her father a little visit Mr Reese", Finch replied as he went over to hold Leila, "Seems that Leila might be more fond of you than me."

"Perhaps, then again, we had that special bonding time when she almost froze to death", John answered.

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John walked up to the board in Finch's office to see pictures of people attached to it, Leila had fallen asleep in his arms. He knew that this could be a hard case but the only suspect that came to his attention was the boyfriend.

"Studies show that people who have experience domestic violence are likely to continue ending up in such situations", Reese commented as he pointed to the photo of Nicky Jo.

"Funny you should say that, I found some more info about her father, he was a drug dealer as well, nobody knew but I believe that this may have a connection to Nicky", Finch suggested.

"So you think that maybe Nicky is with Sarah because of her father", John added as the baby began to wake from her slumber.

"Mr Reese, I also want to remind you that you should probably think about moving your weapon stash", Finch warned John, "I don't think either of us want her to try and blow herself up again."

"She wouldn't do that, would you Leila?" John asked the baby who looked up at him with a questioning glance, "she'll be perfectly fine."

"Yes well, I need you to go out and find out more about Nicky, see what part he plays in all this", Finch told Reese, "And while you're at it, Leila needs her daily dose of vitamin D."

Finch handed John the baby carrier, he had grown affectionate towards the child and whilst he was hesitant to accepting keeping her. He still didn't understand why the grandparents had declined the opportunity to raise their grandchild but he accepted it as their decision, Harold and John had to keep the child and neither of them seemed to entirely regret it.

"You ready for a road trip Leila?" John said to the child who gargled and kicked her legs in response.

"Stay out of harm's way if you can", Harold told John who grabbed his car keys.

"What I try to do everyday Finch, but don't worry I won't give her my gun for a toy, if that's what you're wondering", John told Finch with a smirk.

"Also, you might want to try Detective Carter, see if she has anything on Nicky Jo and Sarah's father", Harold said to him as Bear found his squeaky toy.

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"Hey babe, you wanna go into town tonight", Nicky said to his girlfriend Sarah.

"No, I've gotta stay home and study", The Caucasian female said whilst playing with her brunette hair.

"Come on, it'll be fun, I promise", Nicky replied with a large smile.

"No, Nicky, maybe some other time", Sarah replied as she walked off.

Reese had blue jacked Nicky's phone and was currently listening to their conversation.

"Please Sarah, we'll just have a few drinks and then you can head home", Nicky pleaded.

"Nicky, I can't", Sarah explained.

"Well, maybe I can't help but punch you", Nicky said as Sarah wrapped her arms around her stomach and Nicky punched her in the face, only then did John notice something about Sarah.

"Finch, I believe Sarah's pregnant", He said through his earpiece.


	2. Chapter 2

Sarah began the walk home. Unaware that John was following her. He looked around and noticed the familiar scenery. He knew this area of town. Perhaps too well and he knew the house she just walked in to.

Peter. He was looking after her? What connection did he have with Sarah?

"Finch, did you get the location of the house she just walked in to?"

"Yes, it's Peter's house", Finch replied, "Reese, I meant to tell you but Peter is her father."

"You mean, Jessica had a daughter?"

"Yes."

"I'm going in there", He said.

"Wait John."

John did what Finch told him to. He heard some yelling and screaming from the house. This only made him angrier. If he hurt Sarah in any way he would have it coming for him. He picked up his mobile to listen to their conversation.

"What is this?" Peter said.

"It's a, um, p-pr-pregnancy test", Sarah replied.

"And who's the father?"

"I-I don't know."

"I knew it, you little tramp! Don't think you'll get any support from me because you won't."

He heard more shouts and some whimpering from Sarah. He saw her come out of the house and began to walk along the pathway to act as a passer-by. He saw that she was crying and stopped her in her tracks.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I-I'm fine", She answered him.

"Do you need a lift or anything?"

"No, thank you anyway."

He began to turn around when he heard a door open then slam shut. He saw Peter storm out of the house and grab Sarah, dragging her back to the house.

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"Reese can you go to her school and post up these flyers", Finch requested as he gave Reese a handful of flyers advertising for a babysitting job.

"What's this for?"

"Well, she's going to need a job to raise her child, we'll just say no to whoever calls until she does", Finch said, "It'll give us the opportunity to get closer to her."

Leila began to wail from her crib. Reese went and picked her up and began to bounce her in his arms until she started to hush. She reached out and grabbed the collar of his shirt and tried to bring it to her mouth but to no avail, the collar didn't reach that far.

"What diet have you put this kid on Finch? Cotton?"

"No actually, she eats whatever she can get into her mouth."

Reese smiled down at the baby who snuggled against his shoulder. He was glad to be able to raise her but worried that she could get caught in the crossfire of their work. Though the only other option was to give her to Child Protective Services, which could end up being even worse.

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Reese went to the school and posted up the flyers, many of the girls swarmed around them when they saw how much the job paid. He saw Sarah press the numbers on her phone and blue jacked the device once she was connected.

"Hi my name is Sarah and I saw the flyers for the babysitting position at my school, I was wondering if I could take it, I can work any time", She said to Finch.

"Yeah sure, that'd be great, can you start tonight?"

"Yeah, that's fine", She said, "What time?"

"Six until nine maybe", Finch replied.

"Okay, see you then", she said and they simultaneously hung up. Sarah wrote down the address that had been written on the flyers, Finch had rented an apartment for her to babysit in. He received many calls after Sarah's but declined them all.

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"So what are your guesses so far finch?" Reese asked as he eyed the pictures placed on the board.

"Peter was in some kind of mess with some drug dealers, Nicky is the son of one of those drug dealers, I think he's planning on using Sarah as leverage", Finch explained, "Mr Reese, where are you going?"

"I'm just going to go let Peter know a few things and maybe Nicky too", He said as he placed the sleeping baby in her crib.

"Not yet Mr Reese, I need to know if my assumption is correct first", Finch said as he rested a hand on Reese's shoulder.

"Either way, I'm making sure she doesn't get hurt again", He said, clenching his fists.

"Yes, I can understand that Mr Reese but we must keep a close eye on her", Finch said, "Oh and Sarah is going to this address tonight at six to babysit Leila."

Reese looked at the time and saw that he should be leaving now if he was going to beat Sarah. He grabbed the address from Finch and walked out of the apartment with Leila.

Leila slept through the entire drive and thought about Jessica. Why hadn't she told him that she had a daughter? He remembered her face that day at the airport, begging him to take her away, if only he'd realised it then, he might have been able to save her.

He pulled up at the apartment and took Leila inside, he saw that Finch had already had the place furnished. It always surprised John how he managed to keep on using his money, it was like he just never ran out. Surely he would someday, nobody could spend this much money all the time without running out eventually.

He placed Leila in the playpen that had been installed and saw that some food was in the fridge for her. He grabbed a glass of water and checked the time again, Sarah should be here any moment now. Sure enough the doorbell rang just as he was raising the glass to his mouth, he opened the door to see Sarah, she looked almost as if she'd been crying.


End file.
